The Irish standard., 1887-12-17
IN BLESSED MARY'S NAME.
The Many Memorials in Her Honor in
This Country---Columbus Flag
ship Named After Her.
THE CHESAPEAKE ONCE BORE
Her Name, as Did the Mississippi-0the,
Matters that Will Interest the
: General Reader.

Matters that Will Interest the
General Reader.
LBoston Repubic.l
Che feast Of the Immaculate Con
ception falling within the present
week. and being one Of particular de-
votion to American Catholics, mas
much as the late larnented Plus TX,
gave Mary Of the Immaculate Concep-
tion as d special patroness to this
country, it may not be uninteresting to
the readers OF The Republic to trace
some Of the many monuments to the
Virgin that are to be found in the his
tory of our country. Braving the
wrath of such antiquarians as Rev. W.
/ II. II. Murray and Miss Marie Brown,
who fiourpoor Columbus memory, it
may be stated that. when the culverin
sounded from the bows of that dis
coverer's flagship to signal the start
from the harbor OF Palos, nearly 400
years ago, the standard of CASTLE was
spread to the breeze from the peak Of
the Santa Maria, which was the name
of the Genoese adventurer's vessel.
And though, as in duty bound, he
called the first land in the western seas
he discovered San Salvador, in honor
OF the Redeemer of the world, it was
the title OF Santa Maria de la Concen
cion that he bestowed upon the next
(island. Washington Irving gives US
this version Of Columbus prayer Of
thanksgiving on reaching San Saliva
dor: 20 Lord, eternal aud omnipo-
tent God, Thou hast, by Thy holy word,
created the heavens, the earth and the
sea; blessed and glorided be Thy name;
praised be Thy Majesty, who hast
deigned chat, by means Of Thy un.
worthy servant, Thy sacred name
should be acknowledged and made
known in this new quarter of the
globe" After Columbus, came others
from Europe. and though many came
through greed of land and geld, others
came with the zeal for souls and the
Characterization Of the new-found
world About the middle of the six
teenth century, st. Augustine, by more
than forty years the oldest town in the
United States, was founded On the
feast of Mary's nativity. an occurrence
of which Bancroft speaks as follows in
his history: 1T was the hour of yes
pers, OH the evening preceding the fes-
tival of the Nativity of Mary, that the
/ Spaniar,ls returned to the harbor of st.
Augustine. At monday of the festival
itself the governor went on shore. to
take possession o. the continent in the
name Of his king. The solemn mass OF
Our Lady was performed, and the
foundation Of ST. Augustine was I'M
mediately laid. 1t is by more than
\ forty years the oldest town in the
1 United States. Houses in it are yet
standing which are said to have been
built many years before Virginia was
colonized." From this town, estab-
lished on Mary's birthday, Jesuit,
d ,minican and Franciscan mission
aries went forth to preach the gospel to
the Natchez, the Creek and Cherokee
tribes, and they journeyed along the
whole. Atlantic coast, as far north as
the Chesapeake, to which inlet they
gave the name St. Mary's bay, title
however, it has since lost. When The
Englishmen came to Virginia, with the
true zeal of the ''reformer," they at
once broke up the Catholic missions on
St. Mary's bay and along the Carolin-
ian coasts, but Mary's name and ven.
GRAFTON remained in Alabama and
Florida, and, according to Culinary
Shea, ssthe summer sun of 1893 shone
upon q statue of the Mother of God,
J; under whose patronage and protection
was being founded the city of Pensaco-
Ia" While these things were happen
ing in the South, the Canadian forests
were echoing to Marian hymns, and
. the Salve Regina and the Ave Maris
4 Stella were sung by the boatmen that
traversed the great lakes, with Allonez
and Dablon on Lake Superior, or with
Marquette on Michigan, while the lat
ter missionary established mission
among the Illinois Indians and placed
lit under the protection Of Mary I'm
maculate. The story of Our Lady of
|Guadalupe was recently told in these
columns, and mention made of how
4 THAT devotion was carried northward
4 from Mexico, where it originated,
. through Texas, New Mexico and Ariz-
ona, even to the Pacific slope, where
!. are yet to be found churches dedicated
q to the. honor of the Virgin who ap-
peared to Juan Diego:in 1881. u that
!, lAcal dian land Of which Long gfelloW
sang 50 sVeetly. the Ange elus bell thrice